A gas turbine engine generally includes, in serial flow order, a compressor section, a combustion section, and a turbine section. In operation, ambient air is provided to an inlet of the compressor section where one or more axial compressors progressively compress the air until it reaches the combustion section. Fuel is mixed with the compressed air and burned within the combustion section to provide combustion gases. The combustion gases are routed from the combustion section to the turbine section. The flow of combustion gasses through the turbine section drives the turbine section.
The longer a gas turbine engine is in operation, however, a performance or efficiency of the gas turbine engine degrades. For example, performance deterioration may result in a loss in efficiency, increased emissions, etc. Performance deterioration may be a result of components within a flowpath of the engine becoming covered with foreign particles, eroded, corroded, rusted, damaged, etc. After a certain amount of performance deterioration, the gas turbine engine must go in for service, repair, or overhaul. When the gas turbine engine is one of a fleet of similar gas turbine engines (e.g., one of a plurality of the same make and model gas turbine engines), information may be collected from the fleet of gas turbine engines to determine a performance deterioration model for the gas turbine engines. The performance deterioration model may be used to predict a gas turbine engine's performance deterioration based on, e.g., an amount of time the particular gas turbine engine in the fleet has been operating.
However, current data collection and analysis techniques can result in performance deterioration models with room for improvement in accuracy. Accordingly, a more accurate method for determining performance deterioration of the gas turbine engine in a fleet of gas turbine engines would be useful. With increased accuracy, the gas turbine engines may operate for longer periods of time prior to being taken off wing for service, repair, or overhaul.